About the same time, Pastor Larry Simpson, founder of New Heights Ministries, was driving up Broad Avenue and saw the church with Starzer's name on a sign out front.Simpson, who was looking for a location for his new congregation, was interested.

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We're more lively, jubilant," said Simpson, whose growing congregation of about 100 members is a Pentecostal congregation affiliated with the Victory New Testament Fellowship in Dallas.

Former IBM employee Larry Simpson now works in the men's suit department at Boscov's in downtown Binghamton.Simpson is also a pastor at New Heights Ministries Church in Binghamton."I love them both," Simpson says of his jobs.

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Larry Simpson has two Binghamton jobs -- one for a department store and the other, as he puts it, for the good Lord.

"My full-time job is pastoring, at New Heights Ministries Church in Binghamton.My second job is as a part-time salesperson for the men's suits department at Boscov's department store," the 45-year-old Binghamton resident said."I love them both."

But Simpson worked most of his life for a single employer: IBM.He was laid off from a job in the accounts payable department in 1995 after 19 years, not long enough to collect a pension or retain benefits.

"It was very much a shock," Simpson said."I am a family man with a wife and son.To be told after 19 years of service you are no longer needed, that was hard."

About 400 employees were laid off from IBM again this week, and many are going through the same adjustment process that Simpson went through five years ago.

While many of those former IBM employees moved away to pursue other ventures, Simpson and a significant number of others remained in the Southern Tier, taking jobs that may pay less but they enjoy more.

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Finally, Simpson said, he began to adjust and evaluate his options.A devoutly religious man and self-described lover of fine clothing, he made the decision to follow his instincts, which led him to work in pastoring and clothing sales, an unusual combination he describes as "a perfect fit."

"Sure I miss the money, I loved that IBM job, but my life is much better now," Simpson said."Pastoring is my heart."

In 1995, when IBM employees got the news of their cuts, many were devastated.A large number, already in mid-life, took the cue to redirect their careers toward more meaningful ventures.

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Simpson said he was having serious stress-related digestive troubles when he was laid off from IBM.It is a condition that has since disappeared.

Laid off in December 1988, Jutta Brown felt her life was disintegrating.

She was 52, almost ready for early retirement.Then the layoff came."It felt like the end," she said.

Instead, it turned out to be a beginning.After a year in school, paid for by IBM as part of her severance package, and a dissatisfying year working in the public schools, Brown fell into another opportunity.A lover of books, reading, people and community relations, she got a phone call one day from a manager at Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

"They asked if I was interested in applying for the job in community relations here and I got it," Brown said.

Today, at 54, she said she earns about what her daughter will make when she finishes college.She has gone back to having two weeks of vacation a year, while she had almost enough experience for five weeks at IBM.

But Brown isn't complaining.

"I have a job with so much creativity," she said."I mean I actually affect people's lives, and it is all about reading and books and people."

When she wakes up in the morning now, Brown said, she can hardly wait to get to work.

"I want to emphasize that one of the reasons I stayed as long as I did at IBM is the opportunities they offer," Brown said."I moved from manufacturing to education and into communications; I was writing and dealing with the community in the course of my career there.I was compensated fairly and I had a daughter, a mortgage; these things hold you.I needed the money."

Many ex-IBMers said they feel their relationship with the company was "a fair partnership."

The New Heights Ministries Cathedral Choir sings during Bishop Larry Simpson's consecration service Saturday at New Heights Ministries Church in Binghamton.

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Bishop Larry Simpson and Co-Pastor Rosemary Simpson enter the sanctuary at the start of Simpson's consecration service Saturday at New Heights Ministries Church in Binghamton.

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BINGHAMTON -- Six years ago, Pastor Larry Simpson and his wife Rosemary started New Heights Ministries Church with a deep conviction, but only six members.

Today, the predominantly black congregation has grown to 100 members, from as far away as Ithaca, who attend services in the former First Church of Christ Scientist at the corner of Front Street and Riverside Drive in Binghamton.

"God has blessed us with growth," Simpson said."New Heights is a place for everyone, no matter their skin color, economic and social backgrounds and what side of the tracks they come from."

The growing Pentecostal church marked a major event Saturday when Simpson was consecrated a bishop in the Victory New Testament Fellowship, which encompasses 100 evangelical churches worldwide, including ones in India, Asia, Africa and Pakistan, Cuba and Canada. As bishop, Simpson will oversee the fellowship's churches in the Northeast.

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Mike Garror called Simpson "a man of God."

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Also in attendance was Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen, who has worked on committees with Simpson.

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New Heights Ministries outgrew its previous locations, Simpson said.Congregation members pooled their resources to buy, and renovate, their current building.

Simpson thinks his consecration is important not only for the church but for the community because it means conferences, conventions and guest speakers will be coming to the church.New Heights Ministries wants to reach out to the community, possibly by opening a soup kitchen, he said.

During Saturday's ceremony, Simpson was officially clothed in the purple garments of a bishop.The church remains very much a family affair with Simpson's wife, a manager at BAE Systems, working as co-pastor, and his son, Courtney, 23, playing drums in the band.